Ether
by SilverRain111
Summary: a world where only males are born with The Gift, more commonly known as bending, is shocked by the appearance of a girl bender named Mizuki. Can Mizuki, a feudal princess, shake off the stereotypes and be recognised?
1. Ether prologue and ch1 part 1

Ether

(prologue)

*authors note:although the plot and characters are disconnected from both Saiunkoku Monogatari and Avatar the last Airbender, the setting/world is a crossover of both of these Anime.

The Alchemists said that everything on Earth was made out of four elements, earth, water, air, and fire; but the stars were made of Ether. Ether is what all the other elements came from.

The Legends tell us that hundreds of years ago, during The Great War, a star fell from the sky. A young swordsman found the star and was blessed with The Gift of The Elements, the power to move and bend the four elements to his will. With the power of the four elements, he united the four warring nations, ending The Great War. He declared himself Emperor over the newly united nation, and called it Chikara, meaning power. The Emperor had Four sons, each was gifted with the affinity of one of the elements. They became the Four great families, and are the ancestors of all the nobles. The sons born to noble families were born with the gift, but never girls.

The Emperor made a law that all with the gift must be trained in it's use as well as swordfighting. Young nobles would be tested in a yearly tournament, and be given government positions, as officials, soldiers, and even servants, according to their skill.

They say none but the first emperor had the power to use all of the elements, but during the blue moon, one with the affinity of Ether may be born again.

Ch.1

"Ching!, ching!" the sound of metal against metal, 2 swordsmen facing off, or at least, that's what it sounded like in her head. Mizuki knew it sounded more like "Chsh! chsh!" as she battled the straw dummy. she missed her instructor, now retired. no matter, The Tournament was only a few days away, and she was ready.

"Mizuki! There's a letter from your uncle!" Obaa-san called from the main house. "swish!" Mizuki chopped the dummy in half and sighed. sheathing her twin blades, she ealked to the main house. "Any idea what it's about?" She asked as she took the slip of paper. "yes, you need to go get changed right away!" said Obaa-san. Mizuki scanned the letter and made a grunt of annoyance. "A birthday party? my birthday was last week." "Yes, but your uncle was not in town last week." Obaa-san explained, "Now go get ready!" Obaa-san pushed her inside and started doing her hair.

Mizuki was the princess of the Mizu (water) family, one of the four great noble families. Her uncle had become the temporary head of the family, after the death of her father. It was likely whomever she married would become the new head of the family. The sixteenth birthday, which she'd just had, was the most important for any young noble. For a girls, it meant she was eligible for marriage; for a boy with The Gift, it meant automatic entrance in The Exams, and in a strange twist of fate, for her it meant both. Mizuki, even being a girl, had The Gift, more commonly known as bending. She was a water user, quite a good one, and had even acquired a second affinity, air, whic meant she could use the secondary element, Ice. Mizuki was a master the Mizu family could be proud of, but until the exams were over, she had no rank, and therefore, no recognition.

Mizuki had blonde hair the went past her shoulders, and icy blue eyes. She was small for her age, but fast. Obaa-san brought her a robe in the deep blue color that represented the Mizu family. She fidgeted as Obaa-san pulled her hair into the elaborate hairstyles worn by the nobles and pushed hair ornaments into her hair. Mizuki pulled at her robe; it was so uncomfortable, she much preferred her training outfit. Soon the carriage arrived to take them to the families main estate. Mizuki had been living with her grandparents on a separate estate. when she was married and her husband set in as head of the family, she would move into the main estate. Mizuki loathed all the pomp and circumstance of the main house, she much preferred their quiet estate, where they were left mostly to themselves, and they only had a few servants. soon the carriage pulled up to the main estate.

Mizuki stepped lightly out of the carriage. Two servants bowed and opened the great grand door of Mizu family estate. Inside, many of the guests had already arrived. Some bowed deeply as she passed, while some gave a simple bow of the head. This was according to their class. Soon a girl in a deep green robe approached Mizuki, and bowed deeply.

"Stop that, Tomoko, you know i don't like all this formality. The parties hardly started and i already feel like gagging."

Tomoko giggled and stood up straight "you're the princess of the great Mizu family, and i'm just a lower noble, how can i not bow?"

"Come on Tomoko, you're my friend, you don't need to bow." Mizuki took Tomoko by the arm and led her away from the crowd. "has my Uncle come out yet?"

"No, but i caught a glimpse of him earlier, he had a very serious look on his face."

Mizuki slouched over and sighed. "great, that's just what i needed. He must be in a bad mood."

just then, Obaa-san interrupted. "there you are Mizuki, I have been looking for you everywhere! Your uncle would like to speak to you. It's very urgent." Obaa-san started dragging Mizuki to her uncle's study. Mizuki looked pleadingly at Tomoko. Tomoko just smiled and waved.

Mizuki walked into her uncle's study. He was sitting by the window overlooking the garden. Party guests walked the paths, admiring the many rare and beautiful plants the oriental garden had to offer. Hearing her come in he turned around to face her.

"Mizuki, welcome. I hope you are enjoying your party." He said

"As much as always, uncle." Mizuki said coolly

"It's a shame you loathe the spotlight so much, Mizuki. You really are stunning."

"spare me the small talk, uncle, what is all this about?"

"Why your sixteenth birthday of course; you do know what it means, don't you?"

"That I'm eligible to participate in the tournament." Mizuki turned away from her uncle "and…"

"And that your eligible for marriage" her uncle finished for her.

"But uncle, getting married will only hinder me." Mizuki protested.

"Don't worry; you must trust that I've pick someone suitable for you."

"You mean you've already chosen him without my consent?"

"Now Mizuki you know you would have never willingly agreed on someone the family chose. Besides, this is the family's will. You will meet him after the last day of the tournament, during the festival of swords. Then we can talk more of your future together. Now," he took her arm in his, "let's go enjoy the rest of your party. It's time for presents!" Mizuki followed reluctantly. Although she loathed to admit it, her uncle was right. If they waited on her, she would never be married. But what was she going to do? What if she was to be married to a cruel old man? She wouldn't stand for it. Whoever this person was, she decided, she wasn't going to give in easily. She'd give them a run for their money; make them break off the engagement. As her uncle escorted her back into the main hall, Mizuki allowed herself one mischievous smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch.2

the Exams

Soon the day of the tournament arrived. Mizuki was up at dawn, mostly because she had had a hard time sleeping, she was so excited, and nervous. So she spent the morning cleaning her swords and practicing a certain jab she had never got quite right. After a light but hearty breakfast she dressed in the fighting gear she had laid out months before for just this occasion. She wore short light breeches that stopped just above the knee. For a top Mizuki wore a sleeveless tunic that was colored in the family's characteristic blue. Mizuki strapped the scabbard which held both her curved swords, making them seem like a single blade, on her back. She tucked several small vials in her belt. Mizuki strapped on arm guards. Lastly, she went to her room and took out of its case, a white mask with blue markings on it, and prepared to leave.

Mizuki made her way to the palace sparring grounds, where every young noble entering the tournament would be gathering. The young warriors from all the four great families would be arriving from all over the empire.

Mizuki, being the only girl entering, knew she would be quite a spectacle. So instead of taking a carriage, like a young man of her status might, she walked through the little known by-ways and alleys, where she was less likely to be seen. Her journey ended quickly and without consequence, and soon she arrived at the gate of the tournament grounds, where the Exams were held. Before she entered, Mizuki slipped on her mask. She briefly wondered if her girlish figure would give her away. She peeked into the estate; there were hundreds of young competitors, they came in all shapes, she saw, and decided it would have to do.

Mizuki looked around and located the registration table, where a long line had already formed. She waited patiently in line and spoke to no one. When she arrived at the front the official asked her name. "Mizuki Mizu" she said plainly in her disguised voice. The official looked at her doubtfully, that was a girl's name. "Just check the list please" she said. Shrugging, the official checked off her name and handed her a leather armband his attendant handed to him with the number 11 on it. "Go and check the information notice, over there" he motioned to a large board with a chart and some other information on it "to see when your first match is."

The Exams would span over 3 days. Over those days, 5 different kinds of matches would be held: sword skill, element bending, advanced element bending, warrior's skill, and the tournament of masters. The first kind, sword skill, consisted of sword fighting only, in other words, no bending. The second, of bending only, no swords; only 1 element was allowed to be wielded in this bending match, no secondary elements. These would be held on the first day, and were meant to give those with less skill a chance to show what they could do. A competitor was considered defeated if they were rendered unable to fight, gave up willingly, or were forced out of the sparring ring, killing was not allowed. Each competitor would have 2 matches on the first day, one of the first kind and one of the second. Those who won both matches would move on to the second day. Those who didn't would be organized into their positions based on the skills they exhibited. These usually became lower officials, attendants, and foot soldiers.

On the second day, the third and fourth kinds of matches were held. In the third kind of match, advanced bending, no swords were allowed. The competitors could use any elements they had the skill to wield, but it was not necessary to use any but their basic element. In the fourth match, warrior's skill you could use your sword skill and one element of your choosing. The competitors fought multiple matches until by process of elimination until there were only 10 competitors remaining. These elite warriors would return on the third day for the final, fifth kind of match, known as the tournament of masters.

The tournament of masters had few rules. You may use any form you please to defeat your enemy, sword fighting, bending, anything you had the skill to do. There were only 2 rules: you, and you alone must be the one to defeat your enemy, and no killing. But of course, accidents sometimes happen. The assignments given to these elite 10 were often a total secret. If they were given a high public position, naturally the news would circulate of their assignment, but it is rumored that the positions of those ranked in the top five never make it to public ears.

As she walked around the grounds, she saw that her uncle was already in the spectating area. Mizuki examined the different kinds of sparring rings prepared for the contest. There were large pools of water, with islands inside the ring, for water bending. There were smaller, plain dirt sparring rings for simple sword fighting. There were large rings set up almost like an obstacle course, with large jutting pillars of rock, pools and vats of water, and even intermittent trees, these would be used for matches with multiple kinds of bending, and to test a warriors skill in different environments. There must have been hundreds of different kinds of rings, every single one was different. Even the water bending rings were extremely varied. Some had islands that floated along the top, some were grounded, some rings couldn't be called pools at all, but a large flat island of earth surrounded by a ring of water.

Mizuki's first match was a sword skill match in medium sized plain dirt sparring ring. Her opponent was a heavy built and wielded a long double-edged sword. Despite his initial appearance of being a strong warrior, the match was over quickly. His slow movements and haphazard strikes made it too easy for her to maneuver her blade into a favorable position and send his own blade flying out of his hands. Her bending match was more interesting. Her opponent was a water-bender like herself, meaning she would need to use some higher level techniques to defeat him.

The water style depends on turning your enemies own energy against them. Because of this, sparring between two water-benders of equal skill can turn into a match of attrition. With each bender continually turning the others attack back at them, they may go around in circles until one of them slips up or gives up from exhaustion. For this reason, many water benders who cannot use a second affinity turn to alternate forms of attack, such as brewing poisons, or no attack at all, learning treasured water bender healing techniques.

Mizuki's opponent was quick and crafty. The water bending type ring they battled in was quite large, and looked like a target from above. There was an outer ring of water, with another ring of water inside, surrounding another island in the middle. They circled the outer ring, examining the other. In a quick smooth movement, her opponent formed a snake like stream of water: The single water-whip technique. Using the forward momentum of her opponent's strike, she bent the water around her in a smooth motion and directed back at her opponent. He did the same. Mizuki bent the water around, as before, but this time she split the water into two streams, then gathered them into swirling balls behind her hands

._single water whip_

Because water is incompressible, it becomes a semi-fluid when compressed. Naturally compressing water through bending is very difficult to do, but it is an essential technique to learn if one ever wants to progress past basic water bending. Mizuki used this technique to give the surface of her water attack a lot of pressure.

The swirling balls suddenly seemed to shrink in her hands. At that moment Mizuki rushed onto the middle island, and bringing her hands together, unified the two balls of water, which burst into a concentrated jet of water directed at her enemy; The compressed water jet technique. Her light opponent was pushed straight out of the ring, with no time to redirect the powerful stream. The crowd cheered, Mizuki and her opponent bowed to each other. The first day was over.

The second day went nearly smooth as the first. Her warrior's skill matches were easy. Although her opponents were certainly skilled, they're techniques were predictable and simple. With one exception, a lightly built warrior, surprised Mizuki with his heavy-built attack style. Mizuki would be more careful in judging an opponent next time. Over the course of the day she battled three earth users, one air user and one fire user. Although she was allowed, Mizuki refrained from using her secondary element. It would make a nice surprise for her opponents in the tournament of masters.


End file.
